Four channel, multi-camera, automotive Digital Video Recorders

October 4, 2006 As digital imaging becomes cheaper to implement, one wonders to just what extent we’ll see security video systems deployed around our homes and that other piece of costly travelling real estate, the automobile. When we saw this new 4-channel DVD quality mobile digital video recording system we weren’t thinking about its intended market of police cars, public transportation, and school buses, but where we might get to a decade from now when video systems might well become an integral part of every automobile. Apart from being readily available to assist with parking and reversing (analog rear vision mirrors don’t zoom), they could also verify insurance claims, sense nearby cars and people and alert the driver, and bear faultless testimony to any accidents. Who knows, as digital storage becomes a legitimate part of the automobile's entertainment armoury, we may eventually find multiple camera systems keeping records of every business-related trip.

RAE Systems specialises in building sensor networks that enable customers to identify safety and security threats in real time, and their latest kit is the Aegison DV8020r and Aegison DV8040r network-enabled mobile digital video recorders.

These high-quality two- and four-channel mobile digital video recorders (DVRs) are specifically designed for multi-camera mobile security applications. The two-channel Aegison DV8020r is intended for vehicle surveillance for police cars, helicopters, planes, and other small-scale mobile applications, while the four-channel Aegison DV8040r is intended for large-size vehicle surveillance for mass transportation, trucks and school buses. Both devices meet SAE J1211 and military Mil-810F specifications for shock, vibration and operating temperature. The units are small enough to be easily mounted under a vehicle’s dash or even on a motorcycle. Similar units are already deployed with the US Army in both ground-based and helicopter applications.

“This pair of mobile digital recorders brings more visual and recording coverage to law enforcement and municipal authorities as they deploy video as part of their mobile recordkeeping and security systems,” said Steven Hwang, director of security systems products for RAE Systems. “We have already seen successful deployment of the previous generation of single-channel mobile DVRs designed for military applications.”

RAE Systems’ Aegison mobile solutions are fully customizable with both Ethernet and wireless interfaces, as well as fixed or removable hard drives that can provide up to 160 hours of recording time. These mobile solutions include an embedded DVR device that produces DVD-quality video from each camera, recording at 30 frames per second. The wireless-enabled DVRs are fully integrated with the Aegison real-time streaming and archive server (SAS). Recorded data in the Aegison DV8020r and Aegison DV8040r can automatically uplink to the in-station SAS servers through the wireless 802.1 1a/b/g network. With the SAS, the system supports segmented uplinking: uplinks can be interrupted before completion as vehicles leave the station, and when the vehicles return to the station the uplink resumes from where it left off, seamlessly completing the data transfer. With this feature, a fleet manager can easily manage the data from many vehicles without monitoring uplinks for completion.

Four alarm inputs in the DV8020r and DV8040r can be connected to light bars, sirens, or any other dry-contact relay for recording activation. Playback includes pause, slow motion, frame stop and fast-forward/fast-backward. The on-screen graphical user interface supports multiple international languages, including English, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese and Arabic. Optional accessories for the Aegison DV8020r and DV8040r include a dash-mounted or remote control, USB 2.0 ultra-fast docking station, and windshield-mount mobile zoom camera.

The Aegison DV8020r and DV8040r are available now. For more information on this and other RAE Systems Aegison-family DVRs, please go to